Missing Link Daily

A digest of the best of the blogosphere published each weekday and compiled by Ken Parish, gilmae, Gummo Trotsky, Amanda Rose, Tim Sterne, Jen McCulloch and Stephen Hill

Politics

Australian

Threats from certain Missing Link colleagues have resulted in a penis photo theme in today’s edition (this one being from The Worst of Perth).  Apologies to sensitive readers …

Tim Flannery’s proposal to engineer a bit of global dimming hasn’t won him the admiration of Andrew Landeryou. Or Darryl Mason. Or Graham Young.

Helen is bemused by the language in an Age report on Port Phillip council’s recently departed management guru.

The Editor takes exception to Brendan Nelson’s new catchphrase.

The University of Melbourne has monstered academic Paul Mees for criticising transport bureaucrats a little too passionately. Aaron, Harry Clarke and Robert Merkel take Mees’ side.

Possum puts the post-budget opinion polls under the microscope.

For those fascinated by the Liberal social scene, Andrew Landeryou has published the guest list for a recent Liberal 500 dinner. He also has more on the infighting in the Victorian branch of the Liberal Party. The infighting which is looking like the straw that broke Harry Clarke’s back; despair for an effective opposition is beginning. ((And after the Reign of Iemma, I wholeheartedly agree with Harry Clarke.~gilmae))

After watching the Four Corners report on human rights abuses in China, Jack Lacton demands to now ‘When will they tell us about Cuba?((Around the time that Havana hosts the summer Olympics, I reckon. ~GT))’

Gary Sauer-Thompson cries bullshit on the health insurance industry((Maybe it’s time we got ourselves a bullshit section ~GT)).

International

Dave Bath is disappointed with US biology teachers.

Helen “skepticlawyer” Dale looks at repugnant class-based political campaigning by British Labour.

The Currency Lad finds two more reasons to dislike Obama very very intensely((That a Neutral Enough Point of View for you, Ken? ~GT)) – and demonstrates quite conclusively that, right now, he’s not at all obsessed with Al Gore((Oh dear, I just blew that one, didn’t I? ~GT))((I am so rolling my eyes.~gilmae))((We may have to make CL a permanent exemption from the NPOV convention ~ KP)).

In the strange parallel universe of Right Wing Death beastery, sundry bloggers including Jim Lindgren and Tim Blair seem to think it’s outrageous that the MSM obstinately refuses to characterise a statement by Obama about global warming, US obesity levels and big SUVs as either a “gaffe” or evidence of a secret plan to cede American sovereignty to the UN.

Economics

Peter Martin reads the Reserve Bank board meeting minutes because I (gilmae) can’t.

Will Wilkinson argues that apparently increasing US inequality is just a statistical anomaly.

Law

Dale Carpenter ponders the slippery slope dangers of polygamy and even incest posed by the California Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage and the State Constitution.  Strangely, he doesn’t canvas the dangers of a court ruling protecting inalienable rights to beastiality.  Maybe he’s saving that one for a follow-up post. 

living in the barrier

sale in a sale in a sale

urban patterns

well worn barrier

Issues analysis

Kerryn Goldsworthy muses at length about the pros and cons of going vego.

Jason Soon looks at the connection between state planning laws and food prices, suggesting more supermarkets might help.((It hasn’t worked in Darwin, where food prices are sky high despite one or more sizeable corner supermarket in every suburb, propped up by liquor licences. ~ KP))

Legal Eagle exposes ABC brainwashing of the kiddies with a loony greeny online game called PlanetSlayer!!

Daniel Drezner doubts that female underemployment in science, technology and engineering is a sign of rampant sexism.

Richard Marcus sees worrying signs that Canada is heading down GW Bush’s religion-driven toxic path on HIV/AIDS policy

Arts

Edward Champion provides a satirical take on the big squeeze profit-hungry media proprietors are placing on book review pages. 

As you know, Books Daily is one of the most important publications for books. Sometimes, we even put a star next to a review! In a mere 100 words, we feel that we can encapsulate a books essence. Therefore, any reviews assigned after June 15 will undergo a stunning new business model: one that I believe youll find acceptable under the circumstances. Instead of paying you to review the book, wed like you to pay us at the rate of $25 per review. Please know that we value the work you do for us. We value it so highly that we really think that you should be paying us at this juncture. Your astute reading and writing are what make our magazine so valuable in the industry and we regret this necessary action. All of us here are experiencing change. Some of us, in fact, are sleeping with the money men so that we can pay our rent. This is the only way we can justify our jobs as our magazine remains on the selling block. Our offices have, in fact, become a haven for drug trafficking. We figure that if we cant hook the kids on books, we can certainly hook them on a particularly addictive form of Ketamine.

Chris Boyd speculates about the basis of the feminine attraction being built upon unavailability, drawing upon a Sun Herald readers poll that sites recently dead white males Heath Ledger, Michael Hutchence and Bon Scott as among the most desirable males. 

Can you imagine the reverse? Can you imagine men naming recently, tragically, hunkily dearly departed? With the possible exception of Marilyn Monroe in the ’60s, it’s just not gonna happen. You will not find an Anna Nicole Smith on a comparable list. (I can’t even bring myself to name the beautiful, talented, recently-departed Aussie women to rival Ledger or Hutchence in this context.)

Pavlov’s Cat is delighted that Michelle de Kretser’s The Lost Dog has been awarded the NSW Premier’s Literary Prize (the   Christina Stead Prize for Fiction) – then again cats were always going to favor novels where dogs go missing.

Alison Croggon interviews British playwright Fin Kennedy whose recent play How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found was the first unproduced play in forty years to be awarded the Arts Council John Whiting Playwriting Award.

Boyd van Hoeij considers the disappointing performance of German films that have failed to make the competition section of recent Cannes Film Festivals (exceptions being The Edukators and The Edge of Heaven). 

Canadian writer Lawrence Hill wins the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for The Book of Negroes.

Bud Parr thinks Francis Ford Coppola’s Youth Without Youth is an absolute stinker.

While we haven’t got a Les Boyd/Mark Geyer duet of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheep Amanda Rose accidentally deleted her State or Origin muxtape and offers an alternate twelve songs to hopefully quell the outburst of 7:30 tribalism that can be heard in all the familiar chants: – “Go the Blues”, “Queenslander”, “Wally’s a Wanker”, “Fitler’s a Fairy”, “Bloody ref” ((It’s a lot more sophisticated than the student union Origin pre-game ritual that involved a singalong to the The Angels’ Am I Ever Going to See Your Face Again “no-way get f@#$ed f@#$ off” ~SH)) 

Wireless Bollinger reviews The Cruel Sea’s classic album The Honeymoon is Over, arguing tht it was a seminal event in the development of a truly Australian sound.

Sport

Spiro Zavos is unimpressed with the Aussies dumping the baggy green in favour of VB caps.  Kerryn Goldsworthy would be equally unimpressed by Spiro’s grasp of the English language.  Then again, maybe he really DID mean it was a disgraceful arsehole of tradition …

Tony is somewhat skeptical about a Shane Warne comeback, although he thinks it’s a jolly good idea as does JC at the Cricket Blog.

Guido and the perennial football/soccer question.

Shaun’s brush with Origin greatness.

Steve Jancetic notes that Ricky Stuart agrees with me (KP) that Brian Smith is a whinger.

Snark, strangeness and charm

“Nabakov” and “sexy pink vodka mashed potatoes” should be all the incentive you need to head to Zoe’s excellent new food blog.

Yesterday it was John Quiggin, today Tim Lambert takes his turn to give a bit of stick to Graham Young. Lyn Calcutt finds it all unspeakably sordid. And melaleuca gives J F Beck a shoeing for Beck’s contribution to the world of making shit say the opposite to what it actually says.

Jeremy thinks Guy Rundle is a self-righteous git – among other things.((I don’t always agree with Jeremy, but he’s dead right about Rundle.  ~ KP))

Glenn the event mechanic ponders the meaning of ‘remediation‘((remediation (n): the act or process of remedying (Merriam Webster on-line) ~GT))((What the f*** is this item about? I wonder ~ KP)):

The above is fine, but then ¹ go onto to discuss remediation in such a way as to elide the relation of productions. The double movement of differance (differing-deferring) produces a reserve or trace. For example, in terms of the intelligible, the sensible is this trace.

TroppoSphere, in case Missing Link email subscribers haven’t noticed, is now available as a convenient gateway to a world of news and expert opinion and analysis for those with feed reader phobia. It contains feeds to most of the blogs and other sources whose best/selected content we most regularly feature in Missing Link, as well as general news feeds and those from selected online magazines like openDemocracy, Reason, Slate, Spiked, New Matilda, Australian Opinion Online and Online Opinion.

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